At Philadelphia 76ers April 4th, 3:00 PM

Man another loss, at least the Spartans won though! We are now the 8th seed and it is becoming more and more likely that we are actually going to miss the playoffs. If Larry Brown and the Bobcats beat us next game we're done.

We have lost so many close games this year it's ridiculous. Curry is not helping at all. We still don't have set rotations with what five games left? That's pathetic. Its like Curry has absolutely no idea what the rotations are going to be until the game started and he's coaching it. Thats cool and it works if you have a rough idea of whos role is what, but Curry seems to have no rough idea at all.

Tay played like absolute crap today. Rip was shooting like crap until the second half. Stuckey played pretty well. Bynum played good in the first half. Philly was getting into the paint at will. It's not all Curry's fault, not at all. But he certainly is not helping.

Man another loss, at least the Spartans won though! We are now the 8th seed and it is becoming more and more likely that we are actually going to miss the playoffs. If Larry Brown and the Bobcats beat us next game we're done.

We have lost so many close games this year it's ridiculous. Curry is not helping at all. We still don't have set rotations with what five games left? That's pathetic. Its like Curry has absolutely no idea what the rotations are going to be until the game started and he's coaching it. Thats cool and it works if you have a rough idea of whos role is what, but Curry seems to have no rough idea at all.

Tay played like absolute crap today. Rip was shooting like crap until the second half. Stuckey played pretty well. Bynum played good in the first half. Philly was getting into the paint at will. It's not all Curry's fault, not at all. But he certainly is not helping.

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Points in the paint? Philly 52 Pistons 24.... shooting percentages> Philly 48%, Pistons 37%. If you don't have the heart to go to the hoop for high percentage shots, you usually will come up short... We were able to overcome the paint deficiencies the last couple of seasons when our jump shots were on, and we got to the FT line more often, but no can do this season without CB and an older Rip, Tay and SHeed.

I want to mention, that the game was over an hour ago, and I have read a lot of posts about the game at a couple of boards. Just one person, in my opinion, caught why we lost.

Playing two centers, giving us no power forward capable of getting back in transition. Philly virtually could not score in the first half, as they have an inept halfcourt offense, but they scored plenty of points - in transition.

The non- sense started with the usual couple of clowns, Dyess and Kwame. At least Kwame was doing well offensively in this one. Dyess was at his pansy best shooting and missing jumper after jumper.

Then it continued with Kwame and Sheed paired. See, Sheed coming back just extends the non-sense Curry pulls, nothing more.

Finally, JMAX enters the game. No fast break points for Philly for 6 straight minutes. Gee, what a concept, a power forward who can get back in transition.

Bynum and JMAX had it going on offense. Bynum hit some outside shots, got to the rack, and fed JMAX for some dunks. Pretty nice stuff, and between Afflalo, Bynum, JMAX, and Sheed, that was some pretty good D being played.

One problem though. Herrmann was allowed to play. You know what that means. We only had four defenders out there. Nobody on Philly is a good candidate for Herrmann to guard. (Not that there is such thing.) Despite all the nice scoring by our bench, we did not bury this team. We got ahead, but we could not expand the lead.

Curry knows what is going on. So he pulls Herrmann. And pulls the rest of the bench right along with him. In other words, hardly any of the game was played where we did not have two centers paired when it was utterly not called for, or we had a non-NBA player in Herrmann out there.

Despite all that, it was a close game at the end. Just think if we had a coach with even clue one. No way Philly would be able to stay close to us.

We missed a bunch of shots. So what. You go inside if the outside shot is not falling. Besides, we scored plenty to beat this team if only we every played some real D.

Playing stupid rotations the entire game, thats not playing good D. Thats a lot of fine individual D being played, but poor team D going on all the time.

Sheed was not that great on offense, shooting too many threes really, and yet he connected on some. He had the one clutch inside shot made. Rip shot horribly for the game, including marring otherwise nice fast breaks with his patented, don't let your kids watch, mid-range jumper that he missed. Fast breaks are suppose to finish at the basket.

Tay did little on O. Stuck nailed a couple of threes for his highlight. Miller got the best of him alot, but hey, with no power forward roaming behind you so much of the time, you can only do so much. Defense is a team thing. Curry does not bother to put a functional team out there defensively.

Amir did not play. As someone pointed out, he was key in our last win, just last week, over Philly. But Curry apparently hates anything that could conceivably win a game.

On the season as a whole. The AI thing has obviously turned out disastrous. Regardless who is to blame. Since Dumars has the responsibility (so they say - but I can't help but believe Wilson has somehow gotten his hands into things), he gets the blame for the final result. A disaster. And yes, the silence is deafening from him these days. The word is that Curry's job is safe. If that is the case, sorry, I have to call for Curry to go, and Joe Dumars right along with him. So who can make that call? Who is in charge now.

Someone do something soon, cause this team will not make the playoffs with this coach deliberately throwing game after game to try to prove that slow players are not a liability in this league. You can't hide slow. You can't hide Herrmann, and you can't hide the pairing of two centers. Curry was slow as molasses his last several years, and he did not know it. Maybe he does not want to admit just how slow he was, and maybe he is trying to find even slower people to make him look not so bad. I don't know what the reason. It stinks. I hate to see the Pistons lose. Next coach please.

I want to mention, that the game was over an hour ago, and I have read a lot of posts about the game at a couple of boards. Just one person, in my opinion, caught why we lost.

Playing two centers, giving us no power forward capable of getting back in transition. Philly virtually could not score in the first half, as they have an inept halfcourt offense, but they scored plenty of points - in transition.

The non- sense started with the usual couple of clowns, Dyess and Kwame. At least Kwame was doing well offensively in this one. Dyess was at his pansy best shooting and missing jumper after jumper.

Then it continued with Kwame and Sheed paired. See, Sheed coming back just extends the non-sense Curry pulls, nothing more.

Finally, JMAX enters the game. No fast break points for Philly for 6 straight minutes. Gee, what a concept, a power forward who can get back in transition.

Bynum and JMAX had it going on offense. Bynum hit some outside shots, got to the rack, and fed JMAX for some dunks. Pretty nice stuff, and between Afflalo, Bynum, JMAX, and Sheed, that was some pretty good D being played.

One problem though. Herrmann was allowed to play. You know what that means. We only had four defenders out there. Nobody on Philly is a good candidate for Herrmann to guard. (Not that there is such thing.) Despite all the nice scoring by our bench, we did not bury this team. We got ahead, but we could not expand the lead.

Curry knows what is going on. So he pulls Herrmann. And pulls the rest of the bench right along with him. In other words, hardly any of the game was played where we did not have two centers paired when it was utterly not called for, or we had a non-NBA player in Herrmann out there.

Despite all that, it was a close game at the end. Just think if we had a coach with even clue one. No way Philly would be able to stay close to us.

We missed a bunch of shots. So what. You go inside if the outside shot is not falling. Besides, we scored plenty to beat this team if only we every played some real D.

Playing stupid rotations the entire game, thats not playing good D. Thats a lot of fine individual D being played, but poor team D going on all the time.

Sheed was not that great on offense, shooting too many threes really, and yet he connected on some. He had the one clutch inside shot made. Rip shot horribly for the game, including marring otherwise nice fast breaks with his patented, don't let your kids watch, mid-range jumper that he missed. Fast breaks are suppose to finish at the basket.

Tay did little on O. Stuck nailed a couple of threes for his highlight. Miller got the best of him alot, but hey, with no power forward roaming behind you so much of the time, you can only do so much. Defense is a team thing. Curry does not bother to put a functional team out there defensively.

Amir did not play. As someone pointed out, he was key in our last win, just last week, over Philly. But Curry apparently hates anything that could conceivably win a game.

On the season as a whole. The AI thing has obviously turned out disastrous. Regardless who is to blame. Since Dumars has the responsibility (so they say - but I can't help but believe Wilson has somehow gotten his hands into things), he gets the blame for the final result. A disaster. And yes, the silence is deafening from him these days. The word is that Curry's job is safe. If that is the case, sorry, I have to call for Curry to go, and Joe Dumars right along with him. So who can make that call? Who is in charge now.

Someone do something soon, cause this team will not make the playoffs with this coach deliberately throwing game after game to try to prove that slow players are not a liability in this league. You can't hide slow. You can't hide Herrmann, and you can't hide the pairing of two centers. Curry was slow as molasses his last several years, and he did not know it. Maybe he does not want to admit just how slow he was, and maybe he is trying to find even slower people to make him look not so bad. I don't know what the reason. It stinks. I hate to see the Pistons lose. Next coach please.

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Roll with it Lee.

If we don't make the playoffs we might have a shot a Blake Griffin.

This guy will start at power forward and put an end to all of this 2 center stuff.

If we make the playoffs, Curry will be humiliated by Mike Brown.

I'm not looking forward to that. Better to have a shot at a lottery pick.

Rip shot horribly for the game, including marring otherwise nice fast breaks with his patented, don't let your kids watch, mid-range jumper that he missed. Fast breaks are suppose to finish at the basket.

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This is a great point and through the years Rip has frequently turned what should be a momentum building fast break bucket into a momentum killing missed J.

I can't think of a wore 3 man pairing on the break than Rip, Tay and Stuckey

Other than a couple times in the second game when Bynum forced a couple turnovers with his pressure defense, Bynum was also useless defensively, especially on pick and rolls. Stuckey was way better offensively.

And Stuckey has been a huge disappointment? Clearly your expectations were way too high if you actually believe that.

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It might behoove us to remember that an automatic plus in one area of talent does not make you a failure or a winner. For the one and two spots, it comes down to solidifying your strong area and developing the other weak points in your total game.

In my opinion, Stuckey does not have the mind set I would feel comfortable with in a high-octane offense (which may never happen here) from a PG position. You have to be fearless to learn that position and rather egotistical to hold it. CB always had the ego and just needed the right combination to settle in. Stuckey will never have it for this position. Still...all is not lost. It's been a tough growing year for him.

Bynum on-the-other-hand has the go-forth mentality and surprisingly, a nice little jump shot to keep others off-guard. However, he does not currently (and perhaps may never) have a commanding big-picture perception on how players move with their certain pattern styles around the floor. I am not talking about coaching plays. It's more of a natural feel that you hold in reserve that activates some internal buttons, which makes you have to take over in order to jump-start team stagnation. You can't teach it, you can only (hopefully) learn it. Bynum has been a first class ticket surprise in the cargo placement of this year's seating arrangements. At the very least, he is a solid backup and the price is right. JD needs to go after a solid point guard and please understand, you will not pick up this type in this years draft, who appears born-on-the-scene. Never waste you your first pick on stacking your bench. Of course, if you can get a strong and future PG potential within the first round, then go for it. You will have time to burn...anyway you look at it.

I'm not so naive to presume that " a new coach would do right things". No, new coach surely don't play your favourite bench players or do not find different "hot hand" from bench for every game.

Both Amir and Max are UNDERsized PFs and still they rely on hustle plays. I does not make sense. As long as sending them to the court is like a playing lotto, no stable minutes for them unless they expand their offensive repertoire significanlty.

In D max is better man to man defender than amir, amir plays better help D but neither do not box out somebody or rebound as good PF should.

Due to age Dice's and Sheed's role will be smaller and smaller. Another difficult dilemma either for MC or new guy.

Backcourt is set but as long as stuckey "is searching his soul" and gets killed by other starting PGs, troubles will be there regardless of coach.

coaching depends on material at hand and Pistons material is "some good pieces with big holes". That's the reality.

I agree, but Curry is coming up with ways not to play Sheed now. He's probably closer to having Rip come off the bench to compliment Sheed than he is to start him.

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And that's the sad truth. One think that Curry doesn't realize is that Rip/Sheed/Tay help eachother tremendously on the O end. With this new line-up change he's taken away IMO one of our best plays the Rip curl to Sheed for the mid range, and absolutely crippled us on the pick and roll b/c Sheed is not out there to spread the floor.

How likely is it that KB will look like Tim Duncan in the post for stretches of a game?

That being said our major problem is defense. We have someone who shut off the paint against this team ONE WEEK AGO.

I don't understand why playing a young big is blasephmy to Curry. It doesn't help watching the way Izzo Larry Browned (or Izzoed) Conneticut and utilized his rotations. It's exactly the way i wish we would play.

IMO we have enough depth to stay fresh and be a bully on the O boards.

The best thing that can happen at this point is to miss the PO's. We are not wrestling the 7 seed away from CHI and even if we did, BOS is looking like they will likely hold on.

On the brightside i put alot of money on the MSU game and won big (yes i have a gambling problem LOL).

Both Amir and Max are UNDERsized PFs and still they rely on hustle plays. I does not make sense. As long as sending them to the court is like a playing lotto, no stable minutes for them unless they expand their offensive repertoire significanlty.

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Every team has a player that they utilizie like that. Varejeo being a perfect example. I feel like one this team, the current version of Ben Wallace would have a hard time getting minutes. His stats are atrocious. You need someone to do the little things/dirty work. And that could be as simple as being able to trap the pick and roll and recover. That alone can make the difference in a game IMO.

Every team has a player that they utilizie like that. Varejeo being a perfect example. I feel like one this team, the current version of Ben Wallace would have a hard time getting minutes. His stats are atrocious. You need someone to do the little things/dirty work. And that could be as simple as being able to trap the pick and roll and recover. That alone can make the difference in a game IMO.

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Neither Max or Amir are not even close to this, from where Fear the Fro started: he "owned" many of big men physically, including centers.

Both Maxi and Amir are agile, it is a plus, of course, but lack of raw power is pretty big minus for PF. So far none of starting PFs have had trouble vs Amir/Maxi and even Varejao has eaten both alive.

...and during fab 5 era, 4 scorers compensated that missing scoring area from Fear the Fro, but lack of consistent scoring has been total curse during this season( due to injuries, trade and lack of solid PG work).

you mentioned " a player", well this one dirty work player for MC has been Maxi, unluckily for Amir he and Maxi have similar role but Maxi's advantage is more raw force.

Neither Max or Amir are not even close to this, from where Fear the Fro started: he "owned" many of big men physically, including centers.

Both Maxi and Amir are agile, it is a plus, of course, but lack of raw power is pretty big minus for PF. So far none of starting PFs have had trouble vs Amir/Maxi and even Varejao has eaten both alive.

...and during fab 5 era, 4 scorers compensated that missing scoring area from Fear the Fro, but lack of consistent scoring has been total curse during this season( due to injuries, trade and lack of solid PG work).

you mentioned " a player", well this one dirty work player for MC has been Maxi, unluckily for Amir he and Maxi have similar role but Maxi's advantage is more raw force.

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Oh i completely agree with you, but i'm talking more about the current Ben Wallace. It could be argued that he gets "reputation" minutes, but Ben's current impact is similar to an "Amir" in that he hustles, and is able to use his speed to do as much defensively as possible. He no longer puts up the outrageous rebounding #'s (or even mediocre ones), or powers over guys. He's more of an oppurtunistic player; getting tap backs, keeping possessions alive, scoring off put backs. He plays smarter and gets away with fouls b/c of his rep, but that comes from experience which Curry refuses to give.

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I completely disagree there. You're right about Max (his height limits him), but Amir has absolutely shown that he can play against those type of guys. He rarely gets the chance (i.e. getting benched against CHI/TT, etc.) Both of his best games this season came against CLE and PHI.

I belive Amir brings much more to the table than Max in terms of upside and current play/skill; not discounting Max's occasional strong play, but he is limited in alot of match-ups b/c of his height.

I just think the positive will far outweigh the negative and don't see the utility in continuing to wear out the Sheed/Dyess line-up when it's obviously a down season, and it's not even winning in the first place.

Oh i completely agree with you, but i'm talking more about the current Ben Wallace. It could be argued that he gets "reputation" minutes, but Ben's current impact is similar to an "Amir" in that he hustles, and is able to use his speed to do as much defensively as possible. He no longer puts up the outrageous rebounding #'s (or even mediocre ones), or powers over guys. He's more of an oppurtunistic player; getting tap backs, keeping possessions alive, scoring off put backs. He plays smarter and gets away with fouls b/c of his rep, but that comes from experience which Curry refuses to give.

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KB has honestly earned his minutes, same with Dice, Sheed wants minutes, Maxi wants minutes...the only way for Amir to get 'em is either to outplay somebody or look for next year, hoping that either Dice or Sheed leaves( or both will spend less time on the floor - my favourite scenario).

Oh, I have nothing against of Amir or AA or , "gulp", MrHr, I'd like to see them all playing well, but IMO this team has far bigger issues to solve than Amir's minutes.

KB has honestly earned his minutes, same with Dice, Sheed wants minutes, Maxi wants minutes...the only way for Amir to get 'em is either to outplay somebody or look for next year, hoping that either Dice or Sheed leaves( or both will spend less time on the floor - my favourite scenario).

Oh, I have nothing against of Amir or AA or , "gulp", MrHr, I'd like to see them all playing well, but IMO this team has far bigger issues to solve than Amir's minutes.

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Earning minutes does not lend itself to winning games. Kwame has indeed earned minutes, as has Dyess. Sheed makes us a winner with his D. But we lose game after game overplaying our centers, and underplaying our power forwards.

Do not focus on what a player can't do. Focus on what they can do. The idea is to put a mix of players into the game that together can do all that it takes to win a game.

Look at this last game. 56 points in the paint given up. Does that sound like two centers playing together is working? The game before, we gave up 40 points in the paint in the first half alone. Kwame and Dyess, for that game, was a horrid joke played on us fans.

You can be a fine player, and have earned your minutes, but be the complete, utter, totally, wrong guy for the situation.

Would you suggest we went with 5 point guards if our five most deserving players were all point guards? Of course not. And you should not accept a coach who tries to play 3 centers major minutes when only one is needed. (with a second providing some rest here and there for the first.)

Philly scored all their points on fast breaks, until JMAX got into the game. Then, wow, Philly could not get a fast break point. The last Philly game, Amir had the very same effect. And since Philly only has a running game, and nothing else, all you need to do is have one of Amir or JMAX in the game at all times, and Philly will hardly score any points at all. Pretty simple. Play the guys who can do the job at hand.

We are truly blessed with three centers. All Curry has to do is divide up the 48 minutes, any way he chooses, among the three centers. This would mean Dyess and Sheed are never overplayed, and Kwame gets enough minutes to stay sharp. How about 15 minutes for Kwame, 17 for Sheed, 16 for Dyess. A fresh center is always in the game.

And more importantly, a fresh power forward, rotating between Amir and JMAX, so that you never lack a big getting down the floor to stop easy transition baskets.

And by the way, I have covered this a thousand times, why not once more. Tay can get down the floor well, but arrives with no size to stop transition baskets.

Earning minutes does not lend itself to winning games. Kwame has indeed earned minutes, as has Dyess. Sheed makes us a winner with his D. But we lose game after game overplaying our centers, and underplaying our power forwards.

Do not focus on what a player can't do. Focus on what they can do. The idea is to put a mix of players into the game that together can do all that it takes to win a game.

Look at this last game. 56 points in the paint given up. Does that sound like two centers playing together is working? The game before, we gave up 40 points in the paint in the first half alone. Kwame and Dyess, for that game, was a horrid joke played on us fans.

You can be a fine player, and have earned your minutes, but be the complete, utter, totally, wrong guy for the situation.

Would you suggest we went with 5 point guards if our five most deserving players were all point guards? Of course not. And you should not accept a coach who tries to play 3 centers major minutes when only one is needed. (with a second providing some rest here and there for the first.)

Philly scored all their points on fast breaks, until JMAX got into the game. Then, wow, Philly could not get a fast break point. The last Philly game, Amir had the very same effect. And since Philly only has a running game, and nothing else, all you need to do is have one of Amir or JMAX in the game at all times, and Philly will hardly score any points at all. Pretty simple. Play the guys who can do the job at hand.

We are truly blessed with three centers. All Curry has to do is divide up the 48 minutes, any way he chooses, among the three centers. This would mean Dyess and Sheed are never overplayed, and Kwame gets enough minutes to stay sharp. How about 15 minutes for Kwame, 17 for Sheed, 16 for Dyess. A fresh center is always in the game.

And more importantly, a fresh power forward, rotating between Amir and JMAX, so that you never lack a big getting down the floor to stop easy transition baskets.

And by the way, I have covered this a thousand times, why not once more. Tay can get down the floor well, but arrives with no size to stop transition baskets.